Programmable infusion pumps are used to carry out controlled delivery of liquid food for enteral feeding and medications for various purposes, for example pain management. In a common arrangement, an infusion pump receives a disposable administration set comprising a cassette removably received by the pump and flexible tubing connected to the cassette for providing a fluid delivery path through the pump.
The administration set may include a pumping segment of tubing that wraps around a rotor mechanism of the pump, and the cassette may include a pair of tubing connectors to which opposite ends of the tubing segment are connected. The rotor mechanism may have pinch rollers or fingers that deform the tubing segment as the rotor rotates to progressively urge fluid through the tubing in a peristaltic manner. The cassette may have another pair of tubing connectors for connecting inflow tubing carrying fluid from a fluid source and outflow tubing leading to a patient. As a result, a flow path is provided from the inflow tubing, through the tubing segment, to the outflow tubing.
The pump may have a cassette interface configured to provide a nesting region for receiving the cassette when it is loaded into the pump. In prior art designs, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,575, the cassette interface defines a shaped recess into which the cassette fits when the cassette is loaded in the pump. As a result, some users have difficulty removing the cassette and administration set tubing from the pump after use.
What is needed is a cassette and a corresponding cassette interface that facilitate removal of the cassette and administration set tubing from the pump.